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Iraqi forces âturn on coalitionâ
The new coalition-trained Iraqi police force is being infiltrated by insurgents, a US army general has said. Maj Gen Martin Dempsey said about 10% of new officers were rebels and a further 40% have left their jobs - but the rest "stood tall and stood firm". His comments came hours after a series of bomb blasts in southern Iraq killed at least 68 people and hurt many more. US forces have also been caught up in fresh clashes around Falluja, which remains under the control of militants. âIntimidationâ Gen Dempsey, commander of the US armyâs 1st Armored Division, told media executives in an interview that he believed popular support for the coalition among Iraqis remained high, though it could not be taken for granted. But he acknowledged that one in every 10 of the Iraqi security forces trained by the coalition ended up working against the US-led forces. "About 50% of the security forces that we built over the past year stood tall and stood firm," he told the annual meeting of the Associated Press news agency. "About 40% of them walked off the job because they were intimidated and about 10% actually worked against us." He said it had been difficult for some of the people who joined the local security forces because they were looking for the emergence of an Iraqi rather than US hierarchy. Gen Dempsey also said these recruits had found it hard to accept that Iraqis were fighting each other. "Itâs very difficult at times to convince them that Iraqis are killing fellow Iraqis and fellow Muslims, because itâs something they shouldnât have to accept," he said. "Over time I think they will probably have to accept it." Basra bloodshed Gen Dempsey, who commands the units in charge of Baghdad, said he believed the attacks in Basra may have been ordered to grab the headlines while other areas of Iraq were relatively calm. A series of apparent suicide bombings targeted three police stations in the southern city which is under the command of UK forces. Many of the dead and injured were children travelling in passing buses on their way to school in Wednesdayâs morning rush hour. A fourth attack south of Basra is said to have killed three Iraqis and wounded five UK soldiers. British officials do not think local Shias were responsible for the explosions, but blame them on "al-Qaeda type elements or former regime loyalists". Briefing reporters in London, one official said: "The Shias have broadly accepted the British presence in Basra and I do not think this has changed." In Falluja, a city west of Baghdad held by Sunni militants, about 40 fighters attacked besieging US troops on Wednesday. The gunmen struck in the north of the city, mounting a barrage of rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-22 |
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